MUSIC NEWS - Grammy-winners OK Go (Chicagoans, now LA residents) will preview songs from their upcoming album on a just announced bi-coastal headline tour that kicks off March 6th in Philadelphia, PA (see full itinerary below). On the East Coast dates, Irish indie band Oppenheimer and Longwave will open; IO Echo and Jaguar Love open the West Coast dates. OK Go spent the cold winter holed up in an upstate New York barn-turned-studio with producer Dave Fridmann (Flaming Lips, MGMT, Sleater-Kinney), handcrafting what they describe as the "danciest, most anthemic, most heartbroken, and most honest songs" of their career. The band is chronicling the process with an offbeat series of videos at their okgo.net.
The new album, planned for a late summer release on Capitol Records, follows their 2005's hit-filled Oh No (buy CD here) , which rocketed the band to international fame with major shows on five continents and a series of low-budget homemade videos including "A Million Ways" and "Here It Goes Again" ("the treadmill video") that have been viewed hundreds of millions of times and set all sorts of records.
They will alos be seen playing a fictional wedding band in the upcoming Dreamworks film "I Love You, Man" set for release in theatres on March 20th. In other news, OK Go's friend and collaborator Al "Carnival Time" Johnson recently moved into his new house in New Orleans' Musician's Village. The band donated proceeds from "You Are Not Alone," their 2008 Charity EP to the cause. The EP is available at iTunes, with all proceeds going to help struggling musicians in New Orleans.
The band is also part of a new Banana Republic promo as part of the chain's Spring 2009 marketing campaign. Featured are Sara Bareilles, Liz Phair, Dashboard Confessional’s Chris Carrabba and OK GO. Nine artists are all featured in interviews, performances, and free music downloads and are available at Banana Republic's site with a free "gift with purchase" CD offer in BR stores/online. You can download three songs free on iTunes now. Tunes are-
· OK Go – “Here It Goes Again” (UK Surf version) [A rare, slowed down version of the “treadmill” song]
· Liz Phair – “Never Said” [classic track from her debut album Exile In Guyville]
· David Sanchez – “Manto Azul” [From his latest album Cultural Survival, the follow-up to his Grammy-winning 2006 album.]
3/6* Philadelphia, PA Theatre of Living Arts
3/7* Towson, MD Recher Theatre
3/8* Brooklyn, NY Music Hall of Williamsburg
3/10* New Haven, CT Toad's Place
3/11* Northampton, MA Pearl Street Nightclub
3/12** Boston, MA Paradise Rock Club
3/13* Portland, ME Port City Music Hall
3/20*** San Diego, CA House of Blues
3/21*** Anaheim, CA House of Blues Anaheim
3/24*** Santa Cruz, CA The Catalyst
3/25*** San Francisco, CA Great American Music Hall
3/27*** Portland, OR Wonder Ballroom
3/28*** Seattle, WA Chop Suey
* with Oppenheimer and Longwave opening
** with Oppenheimer and Hooray for Earth
*** with IO Echo and Jaguar Love opening
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